Utah teen sets text messaging record“神指少年”再创短信输入吉尼斯纪录

A Utah teen with fingers of fury is once again the speed text-messaging king of the world.

Ben Cook, 18, of Provo, Utah, returned to the top of the cell-phone text-messaging competition last Friday at a water park in Denver, blazing through a 160-character standardized message in 42.22 seconds.

The phrase used for purposes of professional, competition texting is: "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human."

The feat was recorded on video and scored by an official timekeeper, validating it for Guinness World Records purposes, said Sara Spaulding, spokeswoman for event sponsor Jump Mobile.

Text messaging, already popular with teenagers, is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S., jumping from 2.9 billion a month in 2004 to about 7.3 billion a month in December 2005, according to a survey by the CTIA , the wireless industry'strade group.

Cook in 2004snaggedthe world record by texting the official phrase in 57.75 seconds, a record that soon fell. Before Cook's feat Friday, the record was held by a 23-year-old woman from Singapore at 43.24 seconds set on June 27, 2004.
 
(Agencies)

犹他州的一名“神指”少年再次成为世界上发短信速度最快的人。

上周五，在美国（科罗拉多州首府）丹佛的一座水上公园举行的手机短信输入大赛中，来自犹他州普罗沃市18岁的本·库克再次问鼎比赛冠军。他仅用42.22秒就输入了160个字符的标准短信。

这条专门用于比赛的专业短信的全文是：“The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.”（拥有锋利牙齿的Serrasalmus 及Pygocentrus属水虎鱼，是世界上最凶猛的淡水鱼，但实际上，它们很少攻击人类。）

大赛赞助商Jump Mobile公司的发言人莎拉·斯伯丁说，比赛全过程有现场录像，并有官方计时员为选手计时，目的是为《吉尼斯世界纪录》提供依据。

据无线业行业协会CTIA（Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association）调查，原本在年轻人中十分流行的手机短信，如今在美国越来越普遍。在2004年，每月的短信数量是29亿条，而到到2005年12月，单月的短信数量攀升至73亿条。

2004年，库克就曾创下57.75秒内输完规定短信的世界纪录，但之后，此纪录很快在当年的6月27日被一名23岁的新加坡女子以43.24秒的成绩超越。上周五，库克以他的完美表现打破了那位女子保持的世界纪录。

Vocabulary:
trade group: 行业协会

snag: get by acting quickly and smartly（<快速、漂亮地>夺取）